Wedding of the Century 2
by Insert Witty Name Here
Summary: Jess fights Haylie for custody of Jacob while the Gilmore's receive some shocking news. RJ. Sequel to Wedding of the Century. R&R!
1. Sticky Sweet

Disclaimer: Apparently people are getting in trouble for not using these. My middle name is Trouble...

Summary: Jess fights Haylie for custody of Jacob while the Gilmore's receive some shocking news. Sequel to Wedding of the Century.

Author's Note: I have no excuse for the year long delay other than the usual school and work. I hope your torment was well worth the wait. The timeline of the story is a little more advanced than I had planned on, but I think you all will enjoy it. :)

* * *

Jess waited nervously but patiently in the crowded courtroom. A few other cases had been scheduled before his, most of them involving juvenile delinquents. He tapped his shoe on the ground, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of the suit he wore. 

"Mariano vs. Mann." The bailiff called. Jess stood nervously, following his lawyer to the front of the courtroom. He stood beside his lawyer facing straight ahead. If he looked over at Haylie he would lose all his nerve.

"Mr. Mariano, Jacob has been in your care for the past year and a half, correct?" The judged looked over the rims of his glasses at Jess.

"Yes, sir."

The judge turned his attention to Haylie.

"Ms. Mann, did you visit your son during this duration?"

Haylie pouted and shook her head, delicate blond curls bouncing back and forth, giving her a false look of innocence.

"No, your honor. Mr. Mariano wouldn't let me see Jacob at all!"

_That's not true_, Jess thought. He turned his head to see what his lawyer would do, but he was gone. Even the other people waiting to hear the ruling on their cases were gone.

"Mr. Mariano, why would you keep a mother away from her child?" The judge chided, "The State of New York rules in favor of Ms. Mann."

Jess watched as the bailiff handed Jacob over the Haylie. The child was screaming and kicking refusing to be held by the woman.

"You can't do this! He doesn't want to be with her! Can't you see that! I need him! I need him!!!" Jess yelled, but no sound came from his mouth and he was frozen still as he watched that wretched woman walk out of the courtroom with Jacob, completely oblivious to Jess.

* * *

Jess sat up rigid in bed trying to calm his breathing and trying not to wake up Rory. He looked over at the clock. 

6:30

He figured he might as well go ahead and get a head start on the day. He quietly got out of bed and padded down the hall to Jacob's room. He walked over to see the toddler already wide awake.

"Da!" The little boy drawled out the name as the pacifier dropped from his mouth. Jess smiled and scooped the boy up from the crib. He brought Jacob into the living to let him play with a few toys while he sorted out breakfast. He quickly went into autopilot while cooking, distracted by another nerve racking dream. They had been steadily getting worse for the past 6 months. The first custody hearing was bad enough, then he found out it would take nearly a year to get a final ruling from the judge. It had been bad enough seeing Haylie there. She looked much different than that last night when she had left. She was certainly trying to look her best for the court.

He took out Jacob's kiddie fork and spoon. The little tike had been trying his best to use utensils but usually ended up using his hands. It looked like this morning would be no different. The syrup from the pancake made his little red fork slip right off every time and in only a few seconds, Jacob had ditched the fork and dug right in with his hands. Jess cringed but let it go, the boy was only a year and a half, he figured he had the rest of his life to use a fork.

Rory wandered groggily into the small kitchen and without saying a word helped herself to some syrup drenched pancakes. Jess pushed a coffee in front of her as she sat down at the table.

"Bless you." She said and grabbed the mug as if it were a life raft.

"That's what all the ladies say." Rory only giggled as she paved her way through the enormous pile of food.

Jess waited until he was sure Jacob was full before taking his plate away. He looked over at his son before throwing his arms in the air.

"Bath time!" He said excitedly. Jacob giggled relentlessly as he, too, through his arms over his head. Rory found this excruciatingly cute. A year ago she probably would have found it a bit frightening. To be honest it was the only way to get the boy into the bath as he usually fought and kicked away from the water. After several attempts with bath toys and other tricks, Jess figured out that if you got the little boy excited enough he'd do anything.

"When do you need to leave?" Jess hated it when Rory had to go back to school. They always had a great weekend but he was always dreading the weekdays without her.

"Noon-ish. I have a ton of laundry to do. I'll probably end up doing some of my mom's too. She's starting to waddle." Rory said.

"And if she wasn't pregnant?" Jess smirked, scrubbing the syrup out of Jacob's hair. The boy was oblivious, playing with a little boat that he brought crashing down into the water.

"I would probably still end up doing some of her laundry. She's getting a sonogram Saturday, you guys want to come down while she forces you to look at the blobs she calls pictures?" Rory asked.

"We would love to." He gave Rory a quick kiss before wrapping a towel around Jacob.

Rory felt a pang of guilt for having to be away from the boys all week. She knew it took a toll on Jess too. They were each other's support system. Rory wished she could spend more time with them. She tried to look on the bright side. Spring semester was almost over and she would get to spend all summer with the two best guys in the world.

"I got him, you go eat." Rory said as she took Jacob and shooed Jess towards the kitchen.

Jess followed suit and sat down at the table. He usually forgot to eat until much later when Rory wasn't around. He reminded himself that it wouldn't be like this much longer. He had the perfect plan to make everything better.

* * *

A/N: Yes, kiddies. time for reviewing and general anticipation for the next chapter. Also feel free to check out a new blog I started about fanfiction: 

xangadotcom/authoralert

It would be awesome to get some more topics from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment there as well. : )


	2. Three's Company

Disclaimer: Stealing? No, dude, just borrowing...permanently...while making money off it.

Summary: Jess fights Haylie for custody of Jacob while the Gilmore's receive some shocking news. Sequel to Wedding of the Century.

Author's Note: Yay! Reviews are always awesome, good or bad! Another chapter for you!

Shameless Plug: wwwdotxangadotcom/authoralert

* * *

Luke sat stiffly in the waiting room next to Lorelai. A few children were running around while some couples had crying babies. He was pretty sure he would end up yelling at one of them by the time they got to see the doctor. 

"Unclench." Lorelai ordered, flipping through a gossip magazine.

Luke cringed and pulled himself as far back in the chair as he could as a small boy ran by with a particularly bad case of the runny nose.

"You know we will have one of these soon," Lorelai explained, "It'll be in the same house and you might even be in the same room at some point."

"That's different" Luke replied, "Ours won't be nearly as annoying." Luke was looking pretty confident until he saw the same little boy wipe his nose straight across his sleeve. Lorelai patted his arm comfortingly while rubbing another hand across her swollen belly. Luke was pretty sure that the doctor's initial conception date had been wrong. Lorelai looked as if she were due any day and Luke was more than ready to cease all trips to Doose's for apples and all of Lorelai's other random cravings.

"Mrs. Danes?" A nurse poked her head through the door by the Nurse's station. Luke helped Lorelai up and they both made their way to a room near the back of the office.

* * *

Rory sat in the office that was home to Yale's newspaper. She was trying as hard as she could to finish her last article so that she could get home and spend time with her mom and Luke. She was also ready to see Jess and Jacob later that night. Right as she printed off a final copy of all her work for Paris her phone rang shrilly through the now empty office. 

"Hello?"

"Where are you?" Lane asked desperately. She sounded out of breath.

"At school. Why? What's wrong?" Rory began to worry.

"The second you get back to Stars Hollow meet me at Sophie's Music!" Lane immediately hung up the phone, leaving Rory aghast. _What in the world is going on?_, she thought. She packed up her things as fast as she could.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, Rory parked just outside the music shop in Stars Hollow. To any passerby, the store looked as if it had closed up early for the evening, except for one light still on in the back of the store. 

Rory opened the front door hesitantly. Lane rushed up to the front of the shop excitedly and pulled Rory to the magazine stand in the back. Rory could hear the guys practicing in one of the rooms in the back normally reserved for giving lessons. Lane stood in front of Rory taking a few deep breaths.

"Have you been taking yoga?" Rory pondered out loud. Lane took a couple more breaths before finally composing herself.

"Look at the magazines." Rory looked curiously throughout the stand. She didn't really know what she was looking for. Lane was bouncing impatiently before finally giving up.

"Oh for god's sake!" She pulled out a thick magazine off to the right and immediately Rory realized why Lane was acting so neurotic. On the front cover of the magazine, The Big Takeover, stood Hep Alien. The band stood in front of their home in Stars Hollow. Zach and Gil were both turned toward each other, playing air guitar. Brian stood awkwardly beside them, shoulders drawn up with a hint of a smile. Lane stood nonchalantly beside Brian with her drumsticks poking out of her back pocket.

"Holy crap! Lane! I..." Rory was speechless and then ensued in giggling and jumping up and down with Lane for a solid minute.

"Okay, my legs are tired now." Rory stopped bouncing and sat down on a stool nearby.

"I would've told you sooner, but-" Lane started to explain.

Rory nodded, "You didn't want to jinx it."

Lane nodded her head in agreement. Rory jumped as her phone vibrated with an incoming text message.

-get home now! 911!-

"Is everything alright?" Lane asked upon seeing Rory's worried face.

"I don't know. Last time she sent me something like this she wanted poptarts and Luke was stuck at the diner."

"Uh-huh." Lane had already lost interest, going back to staring at the cover of the magazine as she had been doing two hours before Rory arrived.

Rory reached over and play-pinched Lane's cheek. "My little rockstar, all grown-up." She teased.

* * *

Rory arrived to find the Gilmore-Danes residence eerily quiet. 

"Mom? Luke?"

"In here!" Rory followed her mother's voice to the kitchen. Her mother sat at the table, nursing a cup of tea. Next to her sat Luke, who was unusually pale and was staring at some unseen spot on the wall.

"What's going on?"

Lorelai let out a short, bitter laugh at the question.

"Well, the check-up was today." She stated carefully, making Rory worry even more. She waited silently for her mother to continue.

"And it looks as if there might be more than one bun in the oven."

Rory's eyes widened. "Oh my god! Twins!" Rory's mind was reeling, and she gave her mother a look that said she, too, was thinking about the dream Lorelai had confessed to having years before.

But Lorelai shook her head, taking a nervous sip of her tea, finally revealing the reason for the panic.

"Three...Three babies."

Luke let out a small groan and if the house hadn't been as quiet as it was then, neither of the girls would have heard him.

Rory's head reeled at this news and she suddenly saw the nightmare that was surely playing out in both parents' heads. At that moment, Rory heard the front door open and close and a few seconds later Jess appeared in the kitchen doorway with a sleeping Jacob in his arms. He looked cautiously among the three people sitting at the table, sensing the gloomy demeanor.

"Who died?"


End file.
